An apt prequel for this play would be James Goldamn’s The Lion in Winter? (the film version stars the excellent Peter O’Toole as H2, and Katherine Hepburn as Elinor).
The division of ACTS & SCENES is — more or less — that of the FOLIO. There is some little confusion at the beginning of the play, but from 3.2 onward the Standard division mostly follows F (excepting for the additional 3.3 break).
The Folio has a rather bizarre subdivision for ACT III (Histories, p.9), which is apparently slipped into the very middle of a scene (the standard 3.1). F also gives two “Actus quartus” (pp. 13 & 18), the second being an error for “Actus quintus”.
F 1.1: line 1 F 1.2 [Standard 2.1]: line 291 F 2.1 [Standard 3.1]: line 920
F 3.1: line 997
3.2: line 1282 [Standard 3.3: line 1297] 3.3 [Standard 3.4]: line 1381
4.1: line 1569 4.2: line 1716 4.3: line 1995
5.1: line 2165 5.2: line 2249 5.3: line 2438 5.4: line 2458 5.5: line 2523 5.6: line 2549 5.7: line 2603
FINIS @ line 2729
On the subject of the Folio’s Act III division (which the Norton preserves, pp.1042–3), the Oxford editors write:
“F’s second act is a mere 76 lines long, and its third act almost certainly begins without there being a scene-break in the accepted sense of a cleared stage. The marking in the transcript of the controversial act division must have been intended to create a theatrical break where the original text provided continuous action. … The short act preceding 3.1 is usually explained as a printing-house error: an annotation for the second scene of Act 2 misinterpreted as the beginning of Act 2. If so, the mistake was rectified by altering the heading which originally began the second act, to SCOENA SECUNDA … This whole procedure is especially odd as the two headings were set by different compositors, one working forwards through the text, the other backwards”. Textual Companion, p.318
It is therefore also possible (given the number of “printing-house errors”) that F’s Act III is simply fallacious. And might have been an easy way for the two compositors to “join” their respective ends.
Entrances & exits of Characters According to their order of appearance.
• (2,13) reads “enters at line 2, exits at line 13″.
• (1237[rip 1245] 1252) reads “enters at line 1237, dies on line 1245, corpse exits on line 1252”. RIP at the end a character’s list indicates (or confirms) his/her decease. And [RIP 1839] indicates that we learn of the character’s death at that line.
• PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS are capitalized.
KING JOHN (2,191) (379,607) (646,881) (998,1281) (1288,1296) (1297,1380) (1717,1994) (2166,2248) (2439,2457) (2634 [rip 2668] 2729) RIP
QUEEN ELINOR (2,191) (379,607) (646,881) (998,1281) (1297,1380) [RIP 1839]
PEMBROKE (2,36) (379,607) (646,881) (1717,1820) (998,1281) (1288,1296) (1297,1380) (1717,1994) (2166,2248) (2439,2457)
SUDBURY (2,191) (921,1281) (1717,1820) (2007,2118) (2250,2437) (2459,2522) (2610 2729)
Essex (2,191)
Chatillon (3,36) (343,607) (646,881)
Sheriff (50,191)
Robert Falconbridge (57,191)
BASTARD Falconbridge (57,290) (379,607) (646,919) (998,1272) (1283,1296) (1297,1380) (1851,1898) (2018,2164) (2197,2248) (2371,2437) (2550,2602) (2658,2729)
Lady Falconbridge (232,290)
James Gurney (232,245)
KING PHILIP (292,607) (646,881) (998,1281) (1382,1568)
DOLPHIN (292,607) (646,881) (998,1281) (1382,1568) (2250,2437) (2524,2548)
CONSTANCE (293,607) (921,1281) (1399,1568) [RIP 1841]
ARTHUR (293,607) (921,1281) (1288,1296) (1297,1380) (1579,1715) (1996 [rip 2006] 2164) RIP
Austria (293,607) (646,881) (998,1281) [RIP 1283]
BLANCH (379,607) (646,881) (998,1281)
Citizen HUBERT (505,881) (1288,1296) (1298,1380) (1570,1715) (1784,1880) (1905,1994) (2073,2164) (2439,2457) (2550,2602)
French Herald (608,881)
English Herald (622,881)
Cardinal PANDOLPH (1061,1281) (1382,1568) (2166,2248) (2315,2437)
Executioners (1570,1578) (1648,1662)
Messenger (1821,1903) (2444,2457) (2533,2548)
Peter Pomfret (1851,1880)
Bigot (2007,2118) (2250,2437) (2459,2522) (2604,2729)
MELUNE (2250,2437) (2455,2522) RIP
PRINCE HENRY (King Henry III) (2604,2729)
This is yet another exercise on the subject of the succession of kings. Young ARTHUR, being the son of Geoffrey (2nd son of Henry II) has a more legitimate/direct claim to the throne of England than does KING JOHN (3rd son of Henry II). Arthur’s mother, CONSTANCE of Brittanie, therefore allies herself with French KING PHILIP to secure Arthur’s claim. To the consternation of Constance, King Philip will finally make peace with King John by marrying the DOLPHIN with John’s niece BLANCH.
This peace will be broken by the Pope’s envoy, CARDINAL PANDOLPH, who basically declares a crusade against the excommunicated English King. In the war that ensues, Arthur is captured (and dies). The death of Arthur so enrages the nobles (PEMBROKE, SALISBURY, & BIGOT) that they rise up against John and join the French army. But King John, finally making amends with Rome, de-legitimises the French war (even as the demoralized French are routed by the BASTARD son of Richard Lionheart). The English lords make their peace with King John who (poisoned by a monk) is succeeded by HENRY (who not only has a rock hard claim to the throne, but was uninvolved with his father’s shenanigans).
So, in the course of this play, John has apparently TWO principal opponents: ARTHUR & ROME. But, in the end, it is (as should be expected) France that is the real opponent (“succession” & “religion” being mere pretexts).
• The battle for SUCCESSION basically goes from the beginning of the play to Arthur’s death (1,2006).
For KING JOHN: ELINOR BASTARD BLANCH PEMBROKE SALISBURY ESSEX
For ARTHUR CONSTANCE KING PHILIP (until line 856) DOLPHIN (until line 856) AUSTRIA (until line 856) CHATILLON
• The battle of RELIGION crosses over this first battle and re-ignites the conflict. It goes from the entrance of Cardinal PANDOLPH to the same cardinal’s failed attempt at peace with the French. (1061,2380)
For KING JOHN: ELINOR BASTARD HUBERT PEMBROKE (until line 2116) SALISBURY (until line 2116) BIGOT
For “ROME”: PANDOLPH (until line 2166) DOLPHIN AUSTRIA MELUN PEMBROKE (from lines 2250 to 2522) SALISBURY (from lines 2250 to 2522) BIGOT (from lines 2250 to 2522)
The character of HENRY, being un-touched by either conflict, enables the English lords to return to their proper ENGLISH affiliation (against the FRENCH).
Angiers: (608,645) (1283,1297)
Field of battle in England: (2439,2522)
By heaven, these scroyles of Angiers flout you, kings, And stand securely on their battlements, As in a theatre, whence they gape and point At your industrious scenes and acts of death.
2.1.373–6 / TLN 687–90